Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Racing to Finish...Again


You think I would be better at this...not biting off more than I can knit, but no.

The school Fun Fair is Saturday morning and I'm working on a Pinwheel Baby Blanket. (Made with Bernat Satin for economy and easy care!)

A bit more and I should be able to cast off...oh and figure out a way to finish the edges!

In other news, I found some lovely Wool Gatto at Knitomatic last week. (In real life, the colour is closer to that of the flesh of a Kiwi fruit.) It will make a lovely baby blanket, maybe another Alphabet Baby Blanket for someone special!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Finally, a bit of knitting...



What is this silly thing...

Probably a wasted effort! It's a very long Clapotis that I knit out of some lovely water-coloured variegated merino yarn.

The merino wool is much finer than the yarn called for by the Clapotis pattern and I was hoping to end up with a scarf that could be used more like a neck scarf than a small shawl, so I used the same number of stitches as the pattern, but knit it on 3.75mm needles (as required by the merino) and just added many repeats to the pattern. It's an awful lot of knitting!

The end result is a long, skinny Clapotis. I need to block it a bit, but I don't want it to lose all of its curl and bounce, so I'll start by pinning it loosely to my blocking board and spraying it lightly with a bit of water.

If all of this works, this scarf will be part of our local school's Fun Fair Craft Room. Wonder if it will even recoup material costs! LOL

I have a couple weeks left before the Fun Fair, so I might raid my acrylic blend stash and whip out a child sized scarf/hat set out of some colourful Lion Boucle.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

I'm So Proud...


The Service Dog class went to the St. Jacob's Market today to practice walking on leads and greeting and dealing with the public and other distractions.

Speaking of distractions, whoda thunk there was a yarn store in the market? I found...Knitwerxs.com there!

Haley was ridiculously patient while I prowled the store...and look, here's Haley with her first purchase...a very well-price pair of Addi-turbos.

Awwww....

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

More Pictures of Haley

Since I'm not knitting much right now...here are a few more pictures of Haley!

Here is the most recent class of National Service Dogs Graduates!



Here is the family that raised Haley from a puppy!



And here is Haley riding in the van with her brother Homer...Homer is on the left, Haley is on the right.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Busy, Busy, Busy...but a couple pictures...



This is our training group posing outside City Hall



Now, just the dogs...Homer, Hunter, Caber, Haley and Riker


And me looking particularly bedraggled... haley looks good though! Haley is Golden Retriever, but she really doesn't have a Golden Retriever's face. She has a long, narrow little nose with almond shaped eyes, as opposed to her brothers' squared snouts and round eyes. She looks sort of collie-ish.

Monday, May 08, 2006

And the Winner Is....


Haley (Ok, so I changed the spelling in honour of Ms. Waxberg, who was so helpful in fundraising for our service dog...)

Isn't she lovely?

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Tomorrow is the Big Day!



Tomorrow, we are assigned our dog!

In contention for this honour are:
Hailey (golden retriever, female)
Homer (golden retriever, male)
Hunter (golden retriever, male)
Riker (golden retriever, male)
Caber (black lab, male)

Any guesses?

BTW, all that stuff at the top of the post are the "incidentals" that the dog requires...besides of course, his/her leash and jacket paraphenalia. It is like having another kid...

Saturday, May 06, 2006

This is a test...this is only a test



Hey, it works!

I posted this from the new laptop using a wireless connection. Gee whiz, technology is neat!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

WIP Rodeo!


Ok, just got back from Disney World (BTW, an absolute blast!) and I have less than three days until I leave for a week of dog-training. In between then I have to complete this month's financial statements for the school council, help out with Ellery's theatrical debut (Narnia at the local church) Friday and Saturday evening and put together a company meal of sorts for tomorrow. Did I mention typing out detailed "child-minding" destructions for the hubby?

So, what am I doing now? Anything constructive? Not on your life...

I'm fretting about WIPS! (and mucking about with the colours on my blog)

I'm hoping for a bit of downtime in the evenings next week, so I'm packing up my WIPS for the trip!

Here's a re-cap of what is on the needles!

Gillian's Hoodie...still...maybe two-thirds complete, but frankly with a tight knit on small needles, I can only manage this in tiny doses!

Adirondack Sweater - Finished to the point of picking up the sleeves. The size of this project now makes it highly unportable for short bursts of knitting on the go.

Clare's Molly Sweater - I picked up some white Mission Cotton at Knitomatic last week and I promised Clare that I'd make her a sweater just like Ellery's sweater. (Except white and cotton...her specs, not mine) And I know, I lose points for buying more yarn, but I had absolutely NO white yarn in my stash and colour was non-negotiable with Clare.

Laptop Cozy - Never thought I'd be knitting one of these, but I really do need it. We recently replaced our 100 year old laptop and the new one is larger but flatter than the old one. The carrying bag still works, but the inner, padded sleeve (which secures the laptop inside the bag and prevents in from sliding around) is too small for the new computer. So, I'm knitting/felting a quickie to do the job. I do have stash for this...teal coloured Cascade 220 that is exactly the same shade as the laptop...how cute!

Anyway, I will update my sidebar to include a WIP section, maybe that will shame me into completing more objects.

Oh, and here is a gratuitous Disney pic! Clare and Ellery with Pluto!